Hat-trick

A Hat-trick! Well not exactly 3 times in a row, but last Saturday one of my post got paid, the third time! Some thoughts(purely non-fiction) scribbled on internet, intranet that gave me returns in the form of cash, and an even more valuable payout a book(User Illusion - right now half into this book and am awestruck, I just hope to find little more time to complete this one).

I started to wonder what clicks the best in reading/ writing world - simple open thoughts or complicated fiction? Right now am reading two opposite works. User Illusion, purely a science(psychology) supported by facts, theories etc. And Mahabharata, a true epic which I believe is totally a fictional book. I find both equally mesmerizing. I get goosebumps knowing how the mind works, reacts and process what is fed to it and facts, experiments associated with it from the book User Illusion. On the other hand - Mahabharata, I just cannot fathom this marvelous creative work with so many characters, so many twists, tales, and moral values. I cannot imagine the author(s) for their creativity back in those times. I did watch endless episodes of Mahabharata serials on TV when I was a kid, and have been hearing about how great a story it is all my life. But I truly got interested in it recently through my Husband. He introduced me yet again to Mahabharata. There is no Black and White in this epic. Everything and every character has shades of grey. This seems to be the only epic that has the highest number of words in the world. I hope to write a review soon on this someday, if I could get to read the authentic version of it from the beginning to the end. It seems there are answers to every situation or every question one faces in their life in this epic. Well is this just an epic or has it really happened? I favor the former. Given there are so many characters. My research did not show any solid proofs yet to prove that it really happened. But if there are any which I have not found yet I would be more than happy to know that the story did take place. At least part of it. How much we want to tie up everything to reality?

Anyway, I am a more practical person, and if am given a choice to dream consciously, I would still put in the logic, think of the plausibility, feasibility and then imagine. To write fiction one should have the ability to think or imagine beyond the boundaries, one needs to let go of their inhibitions. Most importantly one need to be able to lie. Show something as real as life though it is not. I have a strong influence of who I am on each of my writings. I want all these writing a reflection of me. This thought does scare me cause am letting myself out in the open for anyone to know me!

Another question that puzzles me is how can a single author write so many complex emotions? Does it require for them to feel each of these emotions? Can one write without experiencing the situation? Is that what called creativity? Or is writing actually not a true creative act but correlating act? Relating ones pain, happiness, and such at a different intensity in a different situation? Did that sound complicated? Yeah!

So I stick to writing simple thoughts for now. May be Mahabharata will influence me to writing fiction! May be!

Love Being A Woman

Are men to be blamed?

Am I feminist? I do not know! In fact I am more comfortable being among men rather than women. I met this woman from IT field and she is earning a decent salary working for an MNC. Married and a Mom. But if she has to step out of her house she needs her husband. One to take his  permission and second for him to escort her. I wonder how she comes to work everyday alone? She is not even allowed to touch the car, as apparently after she drove the car it had to be repaired. Can a car be damaged cause of the driver? Without any accident? She earns more than him and even contributes to most of their family expenses. To go to her Mom's place she needs him to approve, support and accompany her. What the hell, cant she just hop on a bus/ train and go on her own?  If she was assigned an onsite project would he take her and drop her at her workplace? Why are woman still so dependent on men? Why do they do this? Is the man to be blamed or these woman who like being taken care of by men and hence impose these disabilities on them? Without her husband she is a handicap who cannot go around anywhere on her own( work is an exception though - somehow!). And when I hear to women *cribbing* about this, not realizing the fault is theirs, I find it hard to keep my cool and listen to them. Am so afraid that I might snap out and say something that might hurt the other person. And who am I to get into their family matters anyway! So yeah am more comfortable being among men, who discuss stock market, cricket etc.

Men are given opportunities based on their potential while women are given opportunities based on their performance. Is it true?

I attending a corporate women leadership forum today. Women from different companies, with varied skills, positions and ages were there. All of us had one question. Repeatedly, over and over asked, discussed and debated. The issue was - MEN. Everything boiled down to dealing a man, unfortunately. Diversity! . How do you overcome this bias?

I am not sure this is true. But all those examples, case studies complemented it. However, there were exceptions too( all those panelists, key notes speakers - well yeah all these successful women). But the pyramid of women in leadership was too narrow and too steep. Stats say 50% of engineering college students are girls. So why is there only 5% when it comes to the top ladder?

What does it take to be a Man?

There was a man( Prakash Belawadi - a journalist, and an actor from the movie Madras Cafe) among the panelists too. He mentioned that all those aspects of being a woman should only be taken as an advantage when compared to men. Men should actually adopt these, rather than women trying to change/ see them as their negatives. A woman performs 9 out of 10 tasks assigned to her exceptionally well, but fails in 1. But she is stuck to that one failure. She admits it. Many women today saw it as being tactless in not being able to project the good to cover up the bad. Men like Prakash see it as being open and honest. Men go and meet anyone and make friends with him. They socialize over a coffee, smoke or a cocktail party. If a woman approaches or tries to be too social she is judged for her character. It does not matter what a man wears to a board meeting, but it matters what a woman wears. Say if a lady wore flip flops like Steve Jobs to one of the board meetings, would she even be considered a leader?

And if one knows women, this list would go on and on. One thing they are for no doubt good at is cribbing, expressing their emotions, problems. I personally think men are equally shy, socially uncomfortable. Men nowadays are into the kitchen. Into taking care of kids. I know of many of my colleagues who baby sit when their wifes HAD to go to work. I know of many men who do not treat you as a weaker gender but respect them for being their equal or more than that. We woman have so many advantages working for us - we have this unique intuition which is very important when you are directly working with clients. Our minds are more irrational than men. And on top of it, we can empathize better, connect better. We talk a lot, hence better communicators. So be yourself. A Woman. And be proud of this fact.

If at all someone is to be blamed for why women are where they are today, in countries especially like India - the women themselves.

The Book

What is the first thing you do when you buy a brand new book? Fresh from the print? Smell it? :-).

I tried my best to catch up with technology and read books online, on mobile, and all possible software's that try their best to give the same feel of reading a hardcover or a paperback . But could not get past even 10 pages. I love books - in their original form, as a hard copy. The sense of holding a book, turning those pages, folding them, all adds up to the experience of reading a book. Does not matter if it is a novel or a technical book. It has to be a printed hard copy. And if it is a hardcover, nothing like it! Just till few years back I used to maintain a diary, not a digital one but one in which I can write with my own hands, in my own handwriting. As if, someday when I read those words back, I can exactly feel those words and relive those moments.

And though I read each word of the book, including the cover, whats written on the front cover, back cover, acknowledgments, reviews ( with an exception of appendix though ) little did I pay attention to the book's cover or its design; may be I was too caught up with the saying - do not judge a book by its cover,  till I watched this TED Talk - Designing Books Is No Laughing Matter by Chip Kidd.  It is amazing to know how interesting his job is in designing book covers. All he gets from the author is a set of words or few sentences that gives the gist of the book and he has to design a book cover that summarizes the book.

I read this 900 pages book by a Japanese writer - IQ84, whose book cover is also designed by Kidd. The title of course caught my attention and I solely picked this book for its title. I had already decided that I would buy this book, and went on to read few reviews to convince myself of my decision. I did notice its cover and its design till I watched this talk. I had not even opened the book jacket till date, for I was not knowing the art or thought behind it. How can one design a book cover & jacket that explains a woman living in an alternate reality -  two parallel worlds?

How much work goes into packing words? Packing a story? And giving the reader that unique experience of reading it? Well, would I look at the book cover the next time I buy a book? Hell yeah! Time to go through my collection and spend sometime with the book covers and their design, which I had ignored. Sure, there are certain things which can never be replaced, especially by technology.

PS: Designing Books Is No Laughing Matter is hilarious as well as insightful.

My Fictional World

I like fictional characters than real-life characters. Most of the real-life hero's/ characters that I really admire, I got to delve into their life's only after they were dead(...say Ayn Rand, Michael Jackson, Steve Jobs and so on). I feel closer to these fictional characters from books, movies, TV series than my real-time friends or family. I should be sick. A schizophrenic? Yeah I always have this worry that when am old I will end up being a schizophrenic. My nightmare!

Anyways, Christina from Grey's Anatomy sitcom, I adore her so much. Best creation of Shonda Rhimes.  Most ambitious female surgeon who always puts her career in front of other things. Who is competitive, brilliant, aggressive, perfectionist, bullying and always on top of the game. In spite of all these it is hard to hate her. She never likes losing. And is so patronizing, adamant and firm to her beliefs or decisions. Yet there is a soft corner for her friend Meredeth Grey. Probably the only person on earth she trusts or cares for. In real life it is hard to find these type of people. Even if they are, they are polluted sooner or later by the circumstances, environment or situations. She acts to be cold, but she is too scared to let her emotions ruin her. I really admire how she survives the world. Like she calls Grey "her person", Christina is "my person".

It is so sad to know that in Season 10 she is will leave the show. And every time one of my favorite character dies( fictionally ) I feel the loss. As though I really lost a person. Strange how we develop these relations with the characters, strange sometimes how these bonds feel stronger than those that are made with real people. Way back I used to TALK to people when I had a problem. Crib endlessly even knowing that there is no solution to it. And down this self-pity, sabotage I met these people, these fictional people. With whom "talking" is as pointless as "talking" to real-people. Still I felt better. Every time I am off my mind, or there is something that worries me - there are the ones that come for my rescue. A half an hour to an hour watching one of these sitcoms am back in action :-).

Someone said "there is no friend loyal than a book", "Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend". 

Well...hope to find a character as good as Christina somewhere sometime in this fictional world.

Not the least, Sandra Oh has done the justice to this character Christina. Sometimes I wonder is it the character or the performer we fall in love with?

Lootera Movie Review

The Last Leaf

Also posted on MouthShut.

 

It's been a while there has been a beautiful romantic story in Bollywood/ Tollywood. Lootera, a heart soaking love story set in the 1950s of Bengal. And the pace of the movie really lets you dwell in the romance that by the end of the movie you are left with the memories of the feelings when you, for the first time felt true love ever.  Like many said, the pace is absolutely not the problem with this movie but works to its advantage. This movie is definitely not for the masses. But for all those who have been in love, are in love. For all those who can appreciate art. In fact there are many scenes which you DO NOT want to rush through. You would wish you stayed there for few more minutes.

Pakhi, living with his father Zamindar, is the most pampered, protected child. Sonakshi Sinha has done an amazing job in this role and she would really take home few awards this year. Pakhi's character is a sweet adorable girl which every would be forced to fall in love with her mischievous braveness. Varun & Dev come to their house as archeologists. Pakhi with her charm attracts Varun and they fall in love with each other. But Varun is not allowed to fall in love. Why? Did Varun & Dev come to there to fall in love or with some ulterior motive? 

Soon, Pakhi right on her engagement day is abandoned by Varun. Both her heart and life are shattered to pieces with Varun betraying her. Her father not coping with the events passes away too. She moves to Dalhousie and practices writing, which she always wanted to do. Her being a TB patient, she lives waiting for the day to die. Die like the old tree next to her house. She believes that the day the tree sheds its last leaf is the day she would die too. In any other movie you would have thought silly her. But in this, you would sympathize with her. Not everything in life is in absolutes. There are stories, fables, imaginations, metaphors. Director exposes all these absurdities of life so beautifully with this story.

Suddenly Varun on one fine day comes back to her life. And you would expect an usual drama with heavy dialogs, sobbing, screaming and emotions here. But there are no huge explanations nor interrogations. Each scene shouting out loud that "THAT IS LIFE". These are all eventualities which no one can escape nor can be reasoned. All one can do is to accept and come in terms with it. And each of us carry a weapon that can hurt our own selfs, with us all the time - your heart. A heart that can break you or make you. And so by the end of the movie everyone gets what they deserve from the movie. Characters and the audience.

Director is just mind-blowing with his perfect balance of drama, emotions and music. The background score elevates each scene. I would give 5 out of 5 for this movie.

10 Years Journey Into....

Last sunday, the July 14th, 10 years back I reluctantly joined IT field. Cause my Dad suddenly declared that he cannot sponsor my higher studies abroad. So I was asked to work for few years earn and sponsor my own studies. For almost 8 months( yes, I clearly remember for how long, cause I was counting each and every day), into my career all I cherished was my I20. I just was waiting for a day to leave. To fly. To reach the sky. To soar.

Even in school and college days when I thought of my career I did not think about a steady job that pays for my bills and loans. This was never my idea. I always wanted to be a student. A scientist :-). Well, in which specialization again, I did not know, all I wanted was to be a scientist, doing some kind of research, analysis. Even till date I exactly do not know what these titles are for, in reality.

Now, 10 years into my career, I no more have the same energy or passion for studies. Or may be I lack motivation or the environment. Once in a blue moon, I get inspired by one of my friends, and I seriously think of doing a management course. I send out mails to institutes and I collect all the data and keep it. Call people and gather information.  Just keep it! Tucking it safely behind the back of my mind. I do not know why I do that.

Life changes so much since school. Since college. No one tells you this. Even since day 1 of my career, life has changed so much. Different sets of friends, acquaintances. I really miss my first job and the first few friends that I made in this field. A bunch of 10 people, 0-1 yrs experienced. All of us were so alike. So much. In many ways. None of us had long-term plans in that job, yet we worked 18-20 hrs every single day including weekends. Few of us were sleeping in office itself. No complaints. No cribbing. As if all of us had no life outside office? Was it true? Nope. Half of us had BFs/ GFs, but all of us had deadlines. Now I wonder how the hell did we balance work and life back then, and how now we need classes, sessions to teach us the same? And how did we enjoy our work though no one based their life's on it? What changed since then?

So at the end of 1.3 yrs when I realized there is more to learn through experience than from education I gave up on my higher studies( completely?). I decided to move on to a different company without any second thoughts. One fine day I decided am done here. I did not care a bit about all those friends I made or did not worry that I was moving further away from my home town. Just on the instincts that I love change I made this decision. It was not a hard decision. My teammates thought money is the reason why am moving. But that WAS the case with my second jump but not the first.

And then priorities kept changing without me realizing them. But no regrets whatsoever. However to take a decision today, I really have to become a scientist to do so. Evaluate, analyze, think long-term, this, that. I have changed from a person who acts on her instincts to a person who needs a best algorithm to reach from point A to point B, corroborated by logic and facts. Everything that I do even mundane things like cooking, groceries, has to go through a calculation[ yeah I tried 4 ways of cooking plain rice and chose the best, on what parameters is yet another topic :-P ]

On introspecting, probably facts, data and LOGIC are the only things I have TRUST in. Do I at least trust myself enough?!  Or the people who really have trust in me? No...not again...not another loop of infinite thoughts. So I rest it here.

Happy 10th Work Anniversary to Me! Yay! [ Oh my God, does that make me old? :-P ]

Lessons In Forgetting - A Book Review

Also posted on MouthShut.

I have not written a bad review of a book till date. Cause, if I find a book not worthy I just stop reading it. I do not even finish it. But with Lessons In Forgetting, I did finish reading it. Not cause for the suspense-thriller it feigns to be, but just to know if the book really is worth its ending.

I really liked Anita Nair for her book Ladies Coupe. I still think that is her best book till date. Read her other book Mistress, and left it half way some years ago. And now again knowing that her books is made into a movie, I preferred reading the book before watching the movie. Now I have second thought about watching the movie.

Mostly I like Anita Nair's books for her characters, especially female characters. But in this book the other protagonist Meera is nothing but a UK chik-lit book's pathetic female. Novel starts with Meera and her analogy of herself with the greek mythology goddess Hera. I seriously fail to understand how she ruins the greek mythology to suit herself.  She is abandoned by her husband Giri at a high-society party that involve, writers, actors etc. And later Jak( Professor Jak ) is asked to drop her home. Jak the other protagonist of the novel.

He is a middle-aged divorced father of two daughters living with his aunt Kala Chitti and bed ridden 19 year old daughter Smrithi. The story is about what happened to Smrithi on one of her trips, that she has lost all the life in her and is a dead soul with nothing but a body of flesh. Jak believes that there is more to a fatal accident that caused Smrithi this living death. So he starts digging into Smirthi's past, life, her friends to know the truth.

I tried hard not to skip through pages where Meera comes into the picture. I hate this character. An abandoned wife living with here grandmother, mother and with her younger son. And Vinnie, a character who she meets in an elevator and somehow becomes her best buddy for life. Another waste character in the book. Book would have done good just with Jak's story, and Meera is the one who spoilt the book. There are many plots where Meera goes back to 3 or more of her memories with different people and the plot just loses its grip. Looks like a bad attempt by the author at jumping between past and present. By 200+ pages I almost gave up, but thanks to Papa Jak who kept me hooked on.

And on top of that she tries to throw in some gyan on female foeticide and show few characters in the novel as martyrs. Another failed attempt. And Meera and her excerpts from her book on "A Corporate Wife's Guide to Entertaining"? Seriosuly? What age do these women live in?

I personally am very disappointed in this book.

Tootsie - A Movie Review

What does being a woman mean? Beautiful, docile, soft spoken, and most importantly submissive? And is that a definition by men? If so, will they be interested in this woman? If yes, do these men stop there? Do they really be happy with the woman that you are? The more weepy, needy you are the more they would pretend to be interested in you. And before you know there is already another woman in their life's. And this does not end cause a man who's interest is just skin deep is as weaker as a woman he wants. On the other hand, not many men appreciate a level-headed, strong-willed woman. These are some ghastly traits that a woman should have according to them. But there are gentlemen who really admire a strong woman and find them interesting. And the movie Tootsie just shows that in the most dramatic way possible ;).

"Dorothy: Oh I know what y'all really want is some gross, caricature of a woman to prove some idiotic point that power makes a woman masculine, or masculine women are ugly. Well shame on you for letting a man do that, or any man that does that. That means you, dear. Miss Marshall. Shame on you, you macho shit head"

Tootsie is a movie from Comedy Genre. How did I end up watching this? One of my friends shared this link where the actor in from the movie Tootise, Dustin Huffman tears up talking about making this movie and about every woman who wants to meet and match the expectations of a man.

"Julie: You taught me how to stand up for myself because you always do.
            You taught me to stop hiding and just be myself......because you're always yourself"

Michael Dorsey, has trouble getting a role in acting. Mostly cause of his nature and behavior. He finds it foolish to enact a scene which is beyond logic or reasoning. In a scene where he plays a man on his death bed, when the director asks him to walk across to the center and deliver few dialogs, he flares up asking how can a man who is dying walk across just because the director thinks that is what the audience want.

In this struggle to meet the ends, he decides to dress up like a woman for a female role in a SOAP. His desperate attempt somehow wins the role to his surprise. As he starts acting like a woman on the sets and in his real life, he himself falls in love with Dorothy Michaels, taking care of her looks and dignity. He influences people around him, especially women. They feel empowered by him. Who believes in no phony, to be what you are and to stand for what you are and not let anyone treat you less than what you deserve.
      
"Dorothy: That's very convenient.

Ron: No, wait a minute.
     Look at it from my side. See, if a woman wants me to seduce her...I usually do.
     But then she pretends I promised her something. Then I pretend I did.
    In the end, I'm the one that's exploited.

Dorothy: Bullshit, Ron!
         You know what? I understand you a lot better than you think I do."

He meets Julie, on the sets who he instantly falls in love with. And like any other cliched movie, she falls for the wrong guy Ron, the director of the show. Ron treats Julie like a doormat, and he cheats on her, hitting on every other woman. And has a convenient explanation of why he does so. And there goes a love triangle, but would Julie ever get to know who Dorothy is? And that the man behind Dorothy is really in love with her?

If its a movie made in 20's, I sure would not have appreciated it. But I can understand the applause or awards this movie/ actors got. Dustin Huffman/ Dorothy Michaels is really an interesting woman ;-)

"Michael: I'm not mentally ill, but proud...and lucky to be the woman, that was the best part of my manhood."

Coorg

How come Coorg?

Coorg - Scotland of India. Yeah that is what we chose to celebrate our first marriage anniversary. It was summer and we wanted a place, preferably a hill station, to get away from the heat. We decided to take our pet Leo with us. The reason for not traveling for almost an year is him. An epileptic dog, whom I did not wanted to leave alone in a kennel. To be honest, I miss him more than he does. I would constantly worry about him, than enjoy the trip. From our previous experience( Singapore) we decided we would take him along.

How did we go? 

We chose to drive( obviously, with a pet). We found the route guide through( team-bhp.com). There are basically two routes to this place and thanks to this website we could take the shortcut and save some 50 kms journey. Directions are pretty good. Every 20-30 mins you would pass by a town or a village and you would not get lost. To me this was important. I hate traveling on empty long roads. I have not traveled at all in my whole life and looking at empty long roads makes me restless.

We started in the morning at 6:30. We were not in a hurry and drove on an average 60 kms/ hr. We stopped at multiple places all along for Leo walk, for tender coconut, breakfast or some shopping on the way( when you pass by Chennapatna you see a lot of shops on the road side). By the time we reached the place it was 12 in the noon. Or else one could reach this place in less than 5 hrs. On our way back we were in Bangalore in less than 5 hrs.

We could have covered Golden Temple on the way. But as Leo was with us we could not. Otherwise Golden Temple is on the way from Bangalore to Coorg/ Madikere. This is a Buddhist monastery and a must see in Coorg.

And where did we stay?

So the obvious choice was to go for a Home Stay which would allow pets. I called up few and the only one which would pets was this - Bougan Villa Home Stay. The host was a bit worried if my pet would chew on the furniture etc, but they eventually agreed. They were charging 2000/- rs per day for the cottage. This is for a couple. Even though they provided food for my pet, we were not charged anything extra. But if you take kids along the charges are slightly different. Extra 1000/- rs per child. They provide breakfast, tea, snacks and dinner.

Home stay is located near Siddapura. Almost all the home stays are away from the main town - Madikere. All these are in estate areas away from the hustle bustle. You would have to travel min 12-20 km to get to Madikere or any tourist spot. If you do not have a vehicle Homestay is NOT an option.

Any other facilities like restaurants, medical stores etc are not found anywhere near by. All we could see was a small grocery shop. So carry your own first aid kid.

And what did we see?

After we reached the place we took bath and relaxed till 3 or 4 pm in the evening. Thanks to the estate, mobile signals were poor. The place really serves you well if that is your intent. To be away from being "connected". Raja's seat was the closest one we could visit and be back before it gets dark. Yes it is important to be back by max 7 pm as there is not good lighting to drive around the estates in Coorg. So usually we were back by 7 pm. To savour home made wine, watching the entire forest sleeping.

Rajas seat is the highest point from where you can look down entire stretch of Coorg. There is a fountain show, a garden. This is in Madikere town. All along you would find stores selling spices, honey, and different varieties of wine. I have never tasted such weird ones before. Beetle-nut wine, Hibisicus Wine, Coffee Wine - it is like they can make wine with anything and everything. We usually used to go for wine shopping on our way back to the Homestay; and they give 20-30 ml just for tasting. So yeah we were slightly tipsy by the time we reached Homestay :-P.

Next day we went to Golden Temple.  There are many tibetian restaurants in Buddhist monastery if one would like to take tibetian food. As we were not hungry yet( after sumptuous neer dosa served by the hosts @Homestay).  So we drove back to Madikere and after some shopping for honey etc we had lunch. One our way back, we covered Dubare Elephant Camp. We traveled at the end of April - there were rains in Bangalore but none in Coorg. So most of the falls/ rivers had no water. Same with the river at Dubare. There was little water, and people used to take boats to reach across to Elephant Camp. But now, they just walk through the waters to reach across.

Next day as everyone said TalCauvery is a must visits we drove almost 1 1/2 hrs to reach this place in scorching sun to this yet another hilltop. I was really disappointed with this place. It's a huge temple, well maintained but nothing really to see. Just water gushing out of a small hole into the pool in front. They say its the birth place of river Cauvery.

We did not really go to roam around Coorg. We really wanted to spend time away from the apartment, away from the kitchen, away from work. So we deliberately chose to drop many other places like Irupu Falls, Aby Falls, Omkareswara Temple etc. 

We lived like estate owners for those few days at Coorg ;-)

So? How was it?

I was so excited when I thought about staying in the middle of an estate amidst the coffee/ tea plantation. Coffee plantation there was more than 100 years old. Owners of this estate had nothing to worry about security. They keep their doors open even in the nights. Well, there was no proper road or lighting, even if some one had come to steal something or harm someone I don't think they could escape from the estate owner's, they had guns. And every evening the owner would train his two daughters in shooting. So guns are their protection. To protect them from wild animals than burglars. 

Food served by these people is authentic coorgi style. Everyday there would be  minimum 15 items for dinner. All marks go to the hospitality of the guests. They even come and sit with you in the evenings for a chat and tell you stories about the estate history or Coorg.

And for drives in the estates. Again, I hated them. The roads would go on turning and twisting with not even a single vehicle meeting you on the way. They would just go on. All you could see is 5 feet tall plantation on the sides of the roads. I really wonder how they laid the roads in the first place. They are pretty narrow, even though you know that there is no vehicle coming in the opposite direction you cannot go fast, if you did and there is really a vehicle coming, it gets tough. There is not much space really to accommodate.

And how about neighbors? Except the estate owner, his wife, his father and two daughters and us there was not one else to be seen for 20 kms. 

How could one live such a secluded life? I envied them for having so much land for themselves, apart from that I pitied them. Homestay was their way to stay connected to the world. To people. To life. Otherwise a person like me would die in that silence/ darkness. Only thing I liked there was you can sit in that darkness till late night and walk bare foot through out the estate not having to worry about anything. I realized THEN, that I like chaos, I like noise, I like busy, I like my life back at the city than in such a secluded isolated place for which you are the king or queen. I like to "belong" somewhere not "lost" somewhere.  

Singapore

Coming soon...

Goa

Coming soon...

Andhra Delicacies - Pappula Podi & Gongura Chutney

Pappula Podi

Ingredients:-

1. Putnala Pappu( Fried Gram) - 150 gms
2. Dry Red Chillies - 6
3. Garlic Cloves - 6 ( Optional)
4. Grated Coconut - 4-5 tbps
5. Cumin Seeds - 1-2 tbsps
6. Salt to taste

Preperation:-

1. Fry cumin seeds and red chillies on low flame for 5 mins.
2. Grind all the ingredients in a mixer and voila the podi is ready.
3. Serve with rice and ghee. Goes well with Gongura Chutney.

 

Gongura Chutney

Ingredients:-

1. Gongura leaves - 1 bunch
2. Dry Red Chillies - 4
   
3. Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp
4. Ural Dal & Chana Dal - 1-2 tbsp
5. Onions
6. Curry Leaves
7. Mustard Seeds
8. Garlic Cloves - 6 (Optional)
9. Oil & Salt as required

Preperation:-

1. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan and add gongura leaves.  Saute them for 5 mins.
2. Fry cumin and dry red chillies on low flame for 5 mins.
3. Cool them and grin gongura, red chillies, salt and cumin seeds. 
4. Heat 1 tbsp of oil and add mustard seeds. Add urad and chana dal and fry them.
5. Add split/ cut garlic cloves and when they turn light brown add curry leaves and onions.
6. Fry for 3 mins and add the ground paste.
7. Keep adding oil so that the paste does not stick to the pan( unless you are using a non-stick pan).
8. Fry this mixture for 5-10 mins. This can be stored as pickle as well.
9. Can be served with rice and ghee or with curd rice.

Pasta

Ingredients:-

1. Sphegatti ( 1 pack )
2. Paneer ( 150 gms)
3. Capsicum
4. Onion
5. Chillies
6. Ginger-garlic paste ( Optional )
7. Soya Sauce
8. Salt to Taste

Preperation:-

1. Boil water till it starts bubbling. This is when you should add sphegatti to it. Add salt and few drops of oil to keep sphegatti from being sticky.

2. Drain the sphegatti with cold water.

3. Heat oil in a pan and add chillies, onions to it. Add ginger-garlic paste.

4. Add capsicum and paneer, and fry in sufficient oil till the paneer gets cooked.

5. Add soya sauce and sphegatti and cook for 5 mins till the sphegatti gets the flavors.

6. Serve hot with garlic bread. 

Chicken Fry

Ingredients:-

1. 750 or 1 kg Real Good Chicken
2. Chillies(4)
3. Chopped Onions(1)
4. Coriander
5. Pudina
6. Cashews
7. Garam Masala (1 tbsp)
8. Chillie Powder ( 2 tbsp)
9. Lemon Juice (2 tbsp)
10. Curds( optional)
11. Garlic-Ginger Paste (2 tbsp)
12. Turmeric Powder
13. Dhania Powder ( 1tbsp)
14. Salt to taste
15. Oil

Preperation :-

1. For marinating - Add  lemon juice,  ginger-garlic paste, chillie powder, dhania powder, garam masala to the chicken. Add chopped coriander and pudina leaves. Add turmeric and slit chillies into half and marinate all of these for 30-45 mins.
2. Heat oil in a pan. Fry cashews. Add onions and fry them too.
3. Add the marinated chicken to this and cook with a lid on till the chicken cooks.
4. If the chicken is taking too long to cook add 2-3 tbsps of curds to this. This will make chicken soft too.
5. Once the chicken is cooked fry them without the lid. Fry till chicken is roasted and turns dark brown.
6. Add coriander, pudina for garnishing at the end.

Stuffed Karela

Ingredients:-

1. Bitter Gourd  (6) - small sized
2. Chopped Onions
3. Chopped Tomatoes
4. Chopped Green Chillies( Optional )
5. Groundnuts
6. Urad Dal
7. Chana Dal
8. Tamarind
9. Jaggery or Sugar
10. Coriander Seeds or Coriander Powder

Preperation:-

1. For the stuffing - Fry groundnuts, urad dal, chana dal and coriander seeds. Grind them along with them onion, tamarind( that was soaked in water for 5-10 mins). This paste should be thick and dry as much as possible. 
2. Slit bitter gourds length wise and remove the insides. I like seeds inside and so I add them back to the fry later.  Boil these in water. Add turmeric, salt and curds. Curds takes away the bitterness. Be careful as to not boil these too much that the outer layer breaks off during stuffing.
3. In a pan heat oil. Add chopped green chillies and onions. Add Tomatoes to the same and fry them till tomatoes are completely mashed.
4. Stuff the gourds with the filling and add them to the pan. 
5. If the gourds are very bitter, add jaggery or sugar at the end( around a spoon) and fry them for 5 mins.

Home Loan - SBI Max Gain Product

Also posted on MouthShut.

I had a tough time understanding Home Loan to start with. All I knew was that a bank was ready to lend me money based on my income and it would take 10-20 years to clear the loan off and own a home on MY name. But the good news is, no you don’t have to wait so long. At least with SBI Max Gain Home Loan Product.

What is SBI Max Gain?

This a product by SBI Bank which lets providing home loan with these features:
1. Provides Home Loan as an OD account.
2. Reduce monthly interest out-go’s
3. Maximum liquidity of funds
4. Earn interest on surplus parked amount
5. Flexibility of operating Home Loan account as Savings/ Current account

How does this work?

SBI opens an OD for you where in the credit limit is same as the loan amount sanctioned. An OD account is similar to a savings account but based on security, like property, FD’s, Policies and such. Based on this assurance/ market value of these securities bank allots a credit limit to this account. And the amount can go from positive to zero to negative. When you withdraw money from this account it goes from zero to negative and when you pay vice-versa. So in case of home loan, the house you purchased is the security. And the loan amount is the credit limit.

In a savings account the interest is paid by bank to you for the amount you put in the account, in OD its the other way. You pay interest to the bank for the amount you withdraw.

With SBI Max Gain, if you park more money in this OD, the bank will pay you the interest for the additional money you parked apart from Monthly EMI.

So, your monthly interest comes down by the amount of interest bank owes you on the surplus funds parked.

Suppose you took a loan of 20 lakhs at an interest rate of 10% for 180 months. Your monthly EMI calculates to ~21500.

Total Loan Amount = 20,00,000
Tenure = 15 * 12 = 180 months
Interest Rate = 10%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monthly Interest =  (Total Loan Amount * Interest Rate ) / 12 =  ( 2000000 * 0.10 ) /12 = 16666.66

Monthly EMI =  21492 ( Calculated using Excel PMT function or use SBI EMI calculator)

Monthly credit to Prinicipal = Monthly EMI - Monthly Interest = 21492 - 16666.66 = 4825.33

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And say you parked 2 lakhs in the OD account. SBI Max Gain treats this amount as repayment of loan and so now the outstanding loan amount is treated as,

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Outstanding Amount = ( Total Loan Amount -  Parked Surplus Amount ) - ( Principal payed in the previous month) = 2000000 - 200000 - 4825.33 = 1795175

Interest for the current Month = ( Outstanding Amount *  Interest Rate ) / 12 = (1795175 * 0.10 ) /12 =  14959.79

Current Month credit to Principal = Monthly EMI - Current Month Interest = 21492 - 14959.79 = 6532.20
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you see, credit towards principal for the current month is increased by 1706.87. This way you can clear off the loan faster.

Also, SBI calculates interest on a daily basis. The amount of interest the bank owes you on the surplus money parked is calculated daily and then summed up for a month. The same is deducted from the interest you owe to the bank on the total outstanding.

Andhra Recipe - Pala Puri (Milk Puri)

Ingredients:-

1. All purpose flour or wheat flour
2. Almonds (5)
3. Cashew  (10)
4. Poppy Seeds
5. Grated coconut ( fresh )
6. Sugar
7. Milk
8. Salt to Taste
9. Oil

Preperation Time - 40 mins

Preperation:-

1. Fry poppy seeds on low flame for few mins.
2. Soak cashews, almonds, poppy seeds and coconut in milk for half an hour
3. Peel off almonds skin and grind all of these to make a paste
4. Heat milk and add sugar and above mix
5. Cook for 15 mins
6. For puris, mix flour with sufficient water and salt. Make marble sized balls and knead them into puris. Fry them in oil
7. Dip or soal these puris in the boiled milk and refrigerate them
8. Best served when cool

Pala Puri

Featured Blog

I have been writing online since 2003. Never did I want to make money of my writing. It was just for my own happiness or satisfaction. Never did I even want an audience for it. I was just throwing my thoughts, frustrations out into the void of internet in the form of words. In fact having an audience made me uncomfortable. Conscious. I shared my writings with only few selected trusted set of friends. I have been blogging under a different name a few years back.

But well, what the heck? Who cares about me? Who would follow me or my life? So I thought I would go public and so I did.  Around 5 years back. Few of my posts have been featured, had great audience, and have been reviewed. To be honest, one of the reasons for not going public was that I did not like critics. I hated any comments - good or bad. It was as if I was writing to meet some one's expectations. And the need for my writing was exactly the opposite. Something that I did for myself. Yeah I for sure cannot explain this complicated reasoning. I know!

Anyways, today is the first time my writing earned me money. My post - How Much Of Your Life Is By Chance got featured and MouthShut paid me 1000/-. Well, my post on Chance did give me a lucky Chance to pursue writing. Now am dreaming about writing and lately I realized am good in non-fiction than fiction. But I like fiction. Lets see! Party Time.

Life Of Pi - Movie Review

Which story do you prefer?

Also posted on MouthShut.

I picked this novel few years back, more for my book collection rather with intentions of reading it actually.This book fell in the list of "some other day". Till date I have not read the book. I heard all the reviews talking about religion and philosophy and in my life then I had least interest in these.

Last year when this movie was released, I did wanted to watch it. Just because I love movies made from books. But surprisingly I read bad reviews about this film and eventually this fell of my list of movies to watch.This year it got back on my list, simply cause I have been reading a lot about the director Ang Lee which are floating around the social networks and I decided to see his work.

I really loved the movie( I would have loved the book even more if I had gotten myself to read it).

A story of survival, religion, imagination, beliefs and most importantly how much a human wants to stay connected to something, anything a living or non-living. If you were to compare the movie with "Cast Away" I would say they two are unique in their own ways. I loved the ordeals of surviving a ship wreck, and stranded alone in the Cast Away movie more than Life of Pi. In both the movies protagonists connect with something they think is their own reflection. Something that keeps them alive. In Cast Away its a football and in Life of Pi, its a Bengal Tiger. They have conversations with these, they bond with these. Thinking of which, how much a human needs to be connected? How much a conversation with the other keeps you sane? I myself at times( ah who am I kidding
with, most of the times), talk with my pet or with myself when am alone. These very "HUMAN" aspects are brilliantly portrayed in this movie.

"***Words are all I have left to hang onto. Everything's all mixed up, fragmented, can't tell daydreams, night dreams from reality anymore***."


And does a human stop there. They form a relationship. They show their emotions, tantrums, just to feel alive. And then goes way beyond to expectations. At the end of their journey when the protagonist and tiger survive and reach an island, he cries out loud not cause he is alive, but cause the tiger left him without saying a goodbye. The entire movie runs on this theme of "never getting a chance to goodbye". This scene is the best of all.

"***I suppose in the end, the whole of life becomes an act of letting go, but what always hurts the most is not taking a moment to say goodbye.***"

The ending is what makes the movie stand apart. Pi narrates two stories of what actually happened. One is what we see in the movie and the other is a more realistic story that everybody especially people who are way too logical can believe in. This puts both the stories in question as to which is true. Director/ author did not leave the choice to us to decide which story is true. Rather the question is which story do you prefer to believe in? Both are stories of survival, and at the end Pi survives, after losing his entire family and past in a ship wreckage.

"***Without Richard Parker, I would have died by now. My fear of him keeps me alert. Tending to his needs gives my life purpose.***"


At the end our belief system, religion are all stories. Stories that came out of imagination or mostly from real-life experiences. How you narrate it to yourself or others, is what makes the story or the experience interesting, the trauma(if any) bearable and most importantly having all of this memorable. I need to dig my collection to read the book now!



My Ratings: 4 Star

How much of your life is by Chance?

Also posted on MouthShut.

 Who does not like everything to be under control? Not left for chance or luck? Okay, I hear you. Let me rephrase that, I am not a person who like things left for chance, I like almost everything to be under control. Not necessarily under my control. But knowing that something can be controlled is what keeps me calm, sane and wise. The moment I know that its not in my hands nor in anyones hands( which I can reach) and is left to fate, destiny, luck and blah blah blah I loose my cool. And I am the most unpredictable person that can be. Now that can be dangerous, for all I know dangerous to myself.

Does that make me boring? Not taking any risks at all? No. As long as I can avoid risk I like my life to be on a steady boat( is there such a thing? For the boat to be steady it has to be on the ground not on the water). But when there is really nothing I can do about it, there cannot be a better fighter than I am. Bold to face anything and ready to make lemonades. And I believe almost all of us are born survivors. We somehow figure out a way. Humans are the most adaptive species of all, I believe. Then why is that whenever we have to face a real situation that decides the rest of your life solely based on your luck we freak out?

Today in our apartments there was a parking lot draw. All of us were asked to meet in the basement to pick their parking slots. And this was based on a draw. And first time I was way too worried about what slot I might get with which I will have to live woth for the rest of my life( yeah that may not be totally correct). In fact they had taken off 7 slots which were not good slots. And rest of all were equally good or equally bad. And the allotment was block wise. So what was there to be worried? I could see almost all other people there were also tensed. Few had loser faces already, as if they know their luck better and were already grateful to even get a parking slot. And few were hyper that they were constantly jibber-jabbering to overcome it.

Once each of us got our slots almost everyone was happy. At least I did not hear anyone whining about their pick. So what was all the hungama before the draw? I guess what everyone wanted was to get the BEST slot. Especially in my apartment there is no BEST slot. What is BEST for someone was not the same for other. Eventually everyone was happy with what they got. If one was asked which slot in particular they wanted no one could pinpoint one single slot. All of them said "one of those slots". So choice. Power to choose. We all had the power to choose but what is chosen is left to luck.

This is just an instance, but each day everything actually happens by chance. No matter how much I fool myself thinking I have it under control. From the moment you step out of your bed to the moment when you can go back to sleep hoping for another new day, everything is run by many things that are not under your control. Yet, as long as everything goes well, we think all is under control.

So, I am trying to give up on my compulsion to know everything, to be sure of everything and to be assured of everything. But I would not give up totally, that "Chance" gets to be the star of my life. It has to be me. Of course always thankful to Chance for her role in my life!